Multiple conduit



Aug. 11', 1931. H. PARKER MULTIPLE Q'CONDUIT Original Filed March 9; 1928 Patented Aug. 11, 1931 v nmrsnsrnrss PATENT orr cn- I.

nowann ranxnn, or B RLIN, Nnw mirrsnrnn, assrenoamo comm,

' or nnnnm, NEW mmrsnmn, a conronarron or 1mm MULTIPLE OOND'UI'L Original application filed March'. 9, 1928, Serial No. 260,452; Divided and this application filed July 2,

1929. Serial no. 375,427. r y I This invention relates to multi 1e conduit sections which may be built up in units by.

securing two or more sections of single conduit in spaced side-by-side relation, the mul- 5 tiple sections being adapted to be laid end to end, the corresponding conduit ends being joined together to form a continuous multiple conduit of any desired length. 'This application is divided from my copending application Serial No. 260,452 filed March 9, 1928. For many purposes, a fabricated conduit of waterproofed fiber is found desirable by reason of its comparative toughness, strength, durability, lightness and low 13" price. A particularly desirable kind of conduit of the waterproofed fiber type is made by winding a sheet of wet pulp upon itself under pressure in convolutions until the desired wall thickness is obtained, d ing out the moisture, and saturating the ry tube with asphaltic or other waterproofing ma-- terial. Sections of such conduit may be assembled and secured together to form sec tions of multiple conduit by the use of. suitable spacers and means for holding the structure together. The sections of single or multi le conduit may be laid end to end and unite by suitable couplings to form continuous conduits of indeterminate length suitablefor use as pipe-lines or for telephone or electric power cables or for any other uses to which conduits are ut. In some cases, it is preferred to use t e conduits as cores about which concrete or other filling 35 may be poured and set, the fiber conduits remaining in the structure to line the bores which they form in the filler. up sections of multiple conduit for use as cores in'concrete construction or the like, 40 there are several factors to be considered, de-

pending to some extent on .the eventual use for which the conduit is intended. .As one of the chief uses of this type of conduit is at present to hold telephone cables or 'elec true power transmission cables, it is 85 .61

In building tial that no metal fasteners be driven into the material of the conduit. It is desirable that the spacers between the individual sections making up the multiple section be of a durable material, preferably adapted to bond with the concrete or other material to be used in filling in the spaces between the individual conduits after they are placed in position. Itis also desirable that the specers be constructed so that the axes of the individual conduit sections will be spaced from one another with the greatest possible uniformity so as to minimize the possibility of difiiculty in fitting together the several abutting ends of conduits in successive sections.

With these desiderata in view, multiple conduit sections are provided according to the present invention, whichcomprise s ac- 1 ing elements of cement or an equiva out which bond with concrete fillin which may I be usedto surround t e conduits when laid, and which thus result in a final uninterrupted casin of concrete or cement about each indivi ual conduit. This is particularly desirable when. the con- ,duitis to be used for electric ower cables since in case of overload and sing of tlie cable in one conduit, the trouble is confined to that one conduit by the concrete, and cannot extend to adjacent conduits. Accordin to the invention, a simple mul tiple conduit is provided which is not only li ht and -strong, but which is also well a apted to be shipped in knocked-down form and assembled on the field. The latter feature makes possible 9. eat saving of ship ping s ace when an or or is delivered from the m1 to a location for installation.

Various advantageous features of the inventionwill be apparent to one skilled in the art from tlih following description and from the drawings, of which,--

Figure 1' is a transversesection of a multiple conduit embodying the invention.

to one. another and spaced uni Fi re 6 is a perspective view of a spacing: ement. ferrln tion of m tiple conduit embodyin the invention may comprise a number of sections 20 ofindividual conduit arran eldmparallel o y bya series of unitary spacing elements 28 or s lit elements 280. These elements are pre erably' of concrete or similar durable nonconducting material. With' this type of spacer, there is no means attached thereto for holding the conduit-sections 20 in position. Tie members 29 may therefore be rovided to extend around the group of con uit sections as shown in Figure 2 at spaced intervals and to hold'them together in their proper places. The tie members 29 may be s mag tie mem er may also be interrupte of any suitable anaterial. Steel ribbon is convenient for this purpose since it is read ily drawn tight and crimped and clipped as at 30 or otherwise fastened together by suitable meansknown to the art. If it is desired to avoid a complete metal circuit around the multiple conduit yvhich in some cases is considered objectionable, as when the conduits are used to hold electric cables, the metallic loop about the conduit formed by the tie member 29 may be interrupted by insulating the end portions ofthe band with rubber, tape, or the like, as at 300 be-v fore they are pinched together with a clip. This may be done by coating each end portion of metal strips of suitable length with unvulcanized rubber, then vulcanizing the rubber on th@ strip, or sheaths of rubber or other suitable insulating material may be slipped over the ends of each strip, or the en of the be taped. The metal 100$) by the use of a block 31 of fiber or other non-conducting material to hold the ends of the tie member 29 as shown in Figure 4. Another method of breaking the metallic circuit is illustrated in Figure 5, an insula g pad 32 being used between the end ortions of the band 29, the ends being joined by fasteners 33 which maybe insulated from the band 29 by suitable bushings. In order 1o avoid difiiculties which may be experienced in drawing a band 29 taut in connection with making an insulated joint between its 'end portions, a couple of pieces of band may be joinedwith insulation between the ends, then the single jointed band thus formed may be passed around the multiple conduit section and its free ends may be drawn taut to the in detail, a secamass:

charges since the multiple conduit may be shipped in comparatively compact knockdown form, the constituent members being assembled on the field prior to the installation of multiple conduit on the job. If desired, the conduit such as is illustrated in Figure 2 may be laid on thejob and encased in concrete up to the upper surface thereof. After the concrete has partially set, the tie members 29 may cut and pulled out of the concrete, leaving no metallic members embedded therein.

- In assembIing multiple conduit of the kind illustrated in Figure 2, the spacing and holding members are preferably arranged at suitable intervals to give suificient strength to the structure as a whole. One of the spacing elements is preferably 10- cated closely adjacent to one end of the multiple section, the spacing element most remote therefrom being spaced from the further end of the section by a sufiicient distance to permit a slight lateral bending of the individual conduit ends in order to facilitate the interengagement of these ends with the corresponding ends of the next adjacent section of multiple conduit as laid. The spacer element 28 may be made if desired with a central a rture, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, to re uce shipping weight and to increase the direct longitudinal bonding of the concrete which may be poured around the conduits after they are installe in a trench or form.

, The spacers may be split as in Figure 1, the central aperture being used to hold a central conduit which may be of smaller size than the outer conduits. In a multiple conduit for electric power cables a smaller conduit for signal wires is often convenient. By reason of the pressure of the tie members on the split sections 280 of the spacer blocks through the conduits 20, the central conduit is clamped. tightly in place.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limitedto the particularembodiments .desc ibed,- but that it may include various mo 'fications and changes within the the group of conduits and against said spacer.

2. As an article of manufacture, a multiple conduit section comprising a'plurality of individual sections in side-by-side relation, a spacer engaging said individual sections, a narrow metal band looped around outside of the group of conduits and holding them against said spacer, and insulating material interrupting the metal circuit of said loop 3. As an article of manufacture, a multip conduit section comprising a group of indi vidual waterproofed fiber conduit sections, cement spacing blocks engaging each-of the individual sections, narrow metal bands looped around the group holding said individual sections against said blocks, and insulating material interrupting the metal circuits of said 100 s. 1

4. As an artic e of manufacture, a multiple conduitsection comprising aplurality of individual sections in side-by-side relation, a spacer engaging said individual sections, and a narrow metal band looped around outside of the group of sections and holding them against said spacer, said band having a break between the ends thereof with insulating material between the portions on either side of the break, the end of the band being drawn taut and secured.

5. As an article of manufacture, a multiple conduit section comprising a plurality of individual sections in side-by-side relation, a spacer engaging said individual sections and a metal band looped around outside'of' the group of sections and holding them against said spacer, said band comprising a pair of segments, the end portions of one segment being overlapped by and clipped to the end portions of the other segment, one

holding them pair of overlappingend portions each having a co ting of insulating material thereon.

6. A an article of manufacture, a multiple conduit comprising a plurality of indi vidual conduit sections, a two-piece spacer element having peripheral indentations to receive individual conduit sections, said spacer also having a transverse s lit separatingthe two pieces thereof and includin a central aperture to. receive a conduit section therein, and a flexible tie member extending aroundythe group of conduit sections and holding them in their respective indentations, said tie member also acting to draw said two pieces of the sp'acertogether I to clamp the central conduit section between them, said tie member having connected end portions with insulating material thereon whereby metallic contact between said end portions is prevented. 7

7. As an article of manufacture, a multiple conduit comprising a plurality of individual conduit sections, a cement spacer member engaging said individual sections, and a narrow metal band looped around said conduit, each, said spacer engaging a of said individual sections, and a narrow metal band looped around outside of said group substantially in the plane of each said spacer.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

HOWARD PARKER. 

